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Pastor Shane Ham : Blind Faith

Believing Despite Christians · 41:53 · Recorded July 23, 2023

Blind Faith

Psalm 63 (NIV84) 1O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. 3Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. 4I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. 5My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. 6On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. 7Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. 8My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. 9They who seek my life will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth. 10They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals. 11But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by God’s name will praise him, while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

What motivates the search?

We have an irreducible need for something beyond us.

There are needs of the human heart that observable sciences can’t answer.

Romans 1: 24-25 (NIV) Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

Faith is not blind.

Science is not without faith.

Special Note: When it comes to answers, there is a big difference between inductive and abductive sciences.

Inductive: makes an inference based on repeatable observation

Abductive: makes an inference based on best explanation

What is faith?

Faith is trust, based on evidence provided.

Where “scientific experimentation” fails:

It can’t account for morality.

It can’t account for the origin of the universe.

It can’t account for meaning.

It can’t account for purpose.

What must I do?

Objectively go after truth.

Three questions to ask:

Is the thing I believe logically consistent?

Is the thing I believe empirically adequate?

Is the thing I believe experientially relevant?

Psalm 25:1, 3-5 (NLT) O Lord, I give my life to you. No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced…Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me.

Psalm 86:11 (NLT) Teach me your ways, O LORD, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you.

Watch your motives.

Ask God for his help.

Put away fear.

 

 

Growing Deeper Together

Use these points throughout the week as part of your quiet time, in your small group, or over coffee with a friend to help you apply what you learned in today’s message.

  • Where do you find the balance between faith and science? Have you struggled in this area? Reread the three questions Shane posed – how do you answer each of them? Have a conversation with a friend around this topic to help you clarify your thoughts. Share your position and ask for theirs.
  • Meditate on Psalm 63 each day in your time with God this week. What verse of this psalm best fits your relationship with God? How might you deepen your first love with God? How tight is your grasp on God? What impact did spending time with this psalm have?
  • Shane closed with four things we should do as we develop our faith in God. Which of these do you plan to work on this week? What steps will you take? How will you put them into practice? Who will you share your plan with?

Pastoral study references & attributions: Pensées, by Blaise Pascal; God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? by John Lennox; “A Scientist Caught Between Two Faiths: Interview With Robert Jastrow,” Christianity Today, August 6, 1982; God and the Astronomers, by Robert Jastrow

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